Leak lamentations

No help so far for Black Duck Cove seniors as several residents wait on waterline fix

A member of the Black Duck Cove local service district on the Great Northern Peninsula is questioning why the provincial government isn’t helping them repair a defective waterline.

And she insists the age of the residents might be why.

Millie Dredge, 71, occupies one of nine homes connected to a waterline that she says has been a growing problem in Black Duck Cove.

The waterline, installed in 1982, has started leaking in recent years, making basic access to running water increasingly difficult.

According to Dredge, residents in the nine homes are seniors.

They have to visit family members to access water for bathing, washing and drinking.

Dredge says the leak is so bad that when they get up in the morning, all the water has run out.

One of the residents can then turn on the pump, she explains, but it takes about half a day for the reservoir to fill back up.

Two or three hours after that, she says, the reservoir will have gone dry once again.

Dredge says they want funding from the province to fix the existing line.

Last year, the local service district applied for $35,000 for emergency funds through the Department of Municipal Affairs and Environment to repair the system.

Residents in the nine homes came up with $6,000 to contribute to the $35,000 total.

“We’ve been two years trying to get that,” Dredge commented.

But the application was declined.

The department informed The Northern Pen that the request was not consistent with guidelines under the Water Resources Act.

“The request was not approved because the proposed project was not consistent with the guidelines for the design, construction, and operation of water and sewer systems per the requirements under the Water Resources Act,” the statement read.

Instead, the department recommended that Dredge apply through Capital Works funding.

But Dredge says this would be too costly for the town of Black Duck Cove.

She says the total project would cost about $300,000$400,000 through Capital Works, due to engineering preparations and other fees.

Based on the Municipal Capital Works current cost-share ratios, the local service district would have to pay 10 per cent of the total project.

That adds up to around $30,000 or $40,000 for the town.

Dredge says there are seniors in the nine homes living on $14,000-$24,000 a year.

Therefore, it’s too costly for them to afford the cost by themselves and she feels other residents, who have artesian wells, shouldn’t have to pay that amount for work on just nine houses.

“I’m not that stupid to go and get $300,000 or $400,000 to put a line in for nine houses,” says Dredge.

She suspects the province isn’t helping to fix the issue because the residents occupying the nine homes are seniors and the waterline, therefore, won’t be in use for many more years.

“They don’t want to do nothing because if they won’t give us $35,000, they knows we can’t go after capital works,” Dredge says.

“If you’re a senior citizen on the Northern Peninsula, to get any help to do a waterline is almost a no-no. They won’t give it to you.”

The Northern Pen contacted the Department of Municipal Affairs and Environment but did not receive comment on these remarks prior to deadline.